Peacocks Roam Free Despite Residents' Complaints

The City Council decided Tuesday against trapping and removing some of the exotic birds that roam freely in a neighborhood just north of Angeles Crest Highway near Gould Canyon.

Some residents complained that, although the birds may be beautiful, they are also noisy, dirty and destructive. One man even brought to the council meeting a tape recording of a peacock calling for his mate in the night. It was a high screech that he said makes it impossible for him to sleep.

The council members were not moved by the arguments or the recording. They rejected a city staff recommendation to allow the Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner's office to set traps and relocate some of the birds outside La Canada Flintridge.

"People are asking us to play God," Councilman O. Warren Hillgren said. "It's not in the city's role to say how many are too many and how many are too few."

The flock of peafowl is estimated by residents at 40 to 100 birds. La Canada Flintridge is one of several areas in Southern California where the exotic birds from India roam wild. Other flocks are in Mission Viejo, Anaheim Hills and Palos Verdes Estates.

The debate in La Canada Flintridge lacked the acrimony of the continuing battle in Palos Verdes, where poisoning was suspected after nine birds died in November. Still, residents of La Canada Flintridge streets such as Vista Le Jana Lane, Bigbriar Way and Harter Lane--which has become known as "Peacock Alley"--argued that the number of peafowl has gotten out of hand, making them an intolerable nuisance.

Homeowner Richard DeGrey complained of bird droppings and noise. "They're very messy," he said. "They wake you up in the middle of the night, landing on your roof. They devour your garden.

"I would like to see our street colored by flowers, not by peacocks that won't get out of your way when you're driving down the street."

When DeGrey played a tape recording of a peacock's shrill nocturnal mating call, it provoked love calls from the birds' supporters.

"It's music to my ears," one woman shouted from the audience. "Play it some more."